Headlines

January 15, 2013

Game Changers: Inspiring better futures through rugby

London Scottish FC and Deutsche Bank announced the launch of Game Changers – a community focused youth development programme combining education and rugby to encourage 13 and 14 year old school pupils to strive for academic and personal success.

Run over an eight week period and supported by Deutsche Bank, the Game Changers programme will work with 25 students most at risk of exclusion from school using rugby as a vehicle to change young people's behaviour through a comprehensive sports education programme. Topics covered include personal wellbeing, communication and focus, conflict resolution, time and career management, food nutrition, financial capability, community harmony and anti gang culture. The core principal of the programme is the measurement and evaluation process which monitors and tracks the students closely throughout the course to highlight results.

Specialist teachers will deliver the education programme, with members of the London Scottish 1st team and coaching staff working alongside the Club’s community development officers to deliver the rugby coaching aspect of the programme. Deutsche Bank’s UK staff volunteers will support both classroom mentoring sessions and rugby coaching as part of its corporate volunteering programme.

Deutsche Bank’s support of Games Changers follows the success of a 2012 ‘School of Hard Knocks’ pilot joint initiative which used rugby values to relate to life skills and personal development. The programme delivered very positive results for the pupils and was shortlisted for Community Programme of the Year at the 2012 Rugby Expo awards.

London Scottish interim CEO and Club President Rod Lynch: “Game Changers and Deutsche Bank’s support is a welcome addition to the community programme operated by the Club. The Club’s aim is to develop and inspire people of all ages from all backgrounds by promoting an active and healthy lifestyle in and around the sport of rugby. Game Changers is an important component of our community programme as it focuses on pre-NEET students from the West London area and aims to inspire them using the power of rugby.”

Deutsche Bank UK CEO Colin Grassie: “Deutsche Bank is committed to supporting motivating and engaging activities that positively impact a very real social issue for young people. Using sport to encourage a young generation from disadvantaged backgrounds provides strong principles and a solid foundation for academic and personal development. Corporate citizenship is a key focus for both Deutsche Bank and our employees, and we look forward to the results of this initiative.”